Aldnoah Zero: Convergence
by PrimaMalum
Summary: [Alternate Ending to Episode 12] The wrath of Aldnoah will bring about total annihilation. Asseylum knows this, but even so, the Princess remains ever vigilant as Inaho rests by her side, confident in the knowledge that someday, somehow, he will change the destiny of Vers and Earth as they know it. Let justice be felled, though the sinners rise. -On Indefinite Hiatus-


_"Let justice be felled, though the sinners rise." _

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><p>"Inaho!"<p>

"_Who's there…"_

"Inaho, please wake up!"

"_Princess...Asseylum?"_

It felt as though all the blood was rushing to his head, coming to the conclusion that the cockpit was upside down. The presence of smoking machinery filled his nostrils, but he was in no condition to escape from it. When training with the KG-6 Sleipnir, everyone was forced to sit in a smoking cockpit for an average time of two minutes, so, incase this situation ever happened, they would be able to deal with it for a few moments in order to properly find a way out.

Unfortunately for Inaho, he wasn't able to escape. He was strapped in tight, and knew a few of his ribs were broken. His ankle was tingling - definitely a bad sign. He felt his chest tighten and started to wheeze. In a last ditch effort, Inaho attempted to unbuckle the straps restraining him in this claustrophobic prison, but to no avail. The buckle was seared into the entry port.

"Are you alright, Inaho?!"

"Seylum…"

"Thank goodness!" She let out a sigh of relief before continuing. "It's done! I shut down the Aldnoah drive!"

"That's great…" Inaho let out a series of violent coughs, knowing the smoke had worsened. He eventually opened an eye, but was only able to keep it half-lidded due to a streak of blood hanging past his brow.

"The operation was a success. Now, we should escape, too."

Knowing the mission was complete allowed the boy to be at ease. Asseylum was safe for the time being, but he knew they needed to get a move on before fully committing to that train of thought. They were still on Saazbaum's landing castle, and there was bound to be hordes of troops heading to this very room.

Inaho raised a hand up to his left eye, which had been soaked in a mixture of blood and charcoal-colored fluid leaking out of a tear in the cockpit. "Sorry…I can't see very well. I have blood in my eyes."

"I'm right here, Inaho." He felt a pair of hands clasping his own and looked above to see a pair of elegant teal eyes focused worryingly on him.

"Seylum, listen to me…you need to pull out the serrated knife in the pouch furthest to your left on my suit, understand?" She made sure to spot the place he was describing and wasted no time reaching into the pouch and pulling out the item.

"Got it." She coughed a few times. The smoke was definitely getting denser. Inaho was hoping a fire wouldn't catch, he only needed a few more minutes.

"Good, now I need you to cut the belt buckle above the entry port to my right." The Princess nodded, and immediately went to work. She positioned the blade under the toughened leather and began to slice through it.

"Do it was fast as you can...we may not have much time." Inaho warned while pulling at the other buckle, which was dented inside the entry port. After a few more attempts, he let it go - there was no way he could pull out something that broken.

He could hear the Princess coughing rather violently and opted to take her place. "Here…let me do it."

"N-no, Inaho, I can't let you. It's better if I do it-" She coughed again, accidently letting the knife fall into the cockpit.

"Oh no!"

"It's okay, It's in my reach, I'll get it."

"No, Inaho, it's okay, I'll just reach in and-" Before she could continue, Inaho reached forward, his fingers just barely touching the knife. It took him a few more seconds, but he eventually picked it up.

"Here." He lifted his arm up to give it to her, but suddenly felt a sharp burning sensation within his elbow before taking notice of the uncomfortable face Seylum was making.

He knew something was bad and, instead of deciding to ask, took a look for himself. His bone was protruding out his elbow. The sight was so unreal to him that he couldn't hold back an amused smile.

"_Just my luck." _He thought. Asseylum gently pulled the knife from his hand and went back to work. A minute or so passed and the belt finally snapped.

"I'm sorry, Seylum, but you need to cut the other one too." Inaho explained weakly. She nodded at him, determined to cut him free of this trap.

"Don't apologize, Inaho, I'll get you out of here - I promise." His last hope moved over to the other side and began the final task to set him free. In a matter of seconds, a bright orange-red hue emitted from the right side of the cockpit, setting it ablaze.

"No no no, not now!" Asseylum begged, stopping to glare at the fire.

"Keep going!" Inaho ordered, trying to pull his leg away from the heat as far as he could. Asseylum tried her best to stay calm, keeping the knife along the cut but started to slip up a few times. Tears began welling up in her eyes whilst making it halfway through the belt.

"Almost there, Seylum, you can do it." He assured.

Inaho could only remain calm for so long as the blazing heat started to burn through to his leg. Burning alive was an excruciatingly painful demise that no one could sit still through, not even Inaho. The fire started to sear the skin of his leg, causing him to squirm, his eyes wide and his lower lip bleeding from his teeth exerting an intense amount of force into it.

"Just a few more cuts-"

_**BANG!**_

He felt Asseylum's body slump over onto his shoulder, the belt just about ready to break free.

"_W-what?" _

Inaho reacted in seconds, tearing the last few strings of the belt free and pushing Asseylum off the edge of the Kataphrakt and onto the ground. He quickly dragged himself out of the cockpit just as the fire spread over where the whole of his leg was resting.

He was free from the torment of being trapped in the cockpit, though his leg was now covered in second-degree burns. He looked over to the Princess, blood oozing out of a hole above her breast. She was looking at him with pleading eyes.

"Run...please!" She begged.

Inaho responded with a soft smile, his half-lidded eye closing alongside the expression as he made an attempt to stand up. He looked at the adversary who dared to fire upon his savior. He was middle-aged, with wrinkles accompanying his unsure expression. The uniform identified him as a Versian Count - this was his Landing Castle, and he was the pilot of the Dioscuria. Of course he would fire on the Princess, it made perfect sense.

Inaho took notice of a blue-uniformed boy standing atop the Kataphrakt that had attempted to save the Dioscuria from it's certain demise.

He let off a slight chuckle, knowing he was outnumbered, knowing this wouldn't end well. He looked away from the observant and back towards the Count, who was now aiming directly at him.

Inaho could tell he was struggling to aim, his body awkwardly pressed against the metallic wall behind him as the pistol in his hand shook.

"Stay down, Seylum."

"Inaho...wait!" As soon as she lifted her hand up towards him, the boy reached for his pistol. He was unable to stand up - his ankle was sprained, his ribs were broken, his right arm was of no use...there was no way he could possibly pull the gun from his holster in time.

_**BANG! BANG! BANG! **_

A series of shots rang out...but none of them were from Inaho. He barely managed to get his pistol out just as left eye exploded into nothing but liquid crimson splattering onto his uniform and the floor below. His weapon fell towards the Princess as he collapsed to the ground with no resistance.

Codename Mustang 22, Orange, Inaho, Nao - all of the names he'd been called becoming a never-ending spiral of repetition within his head as what remained of his vision stared blankly at the ceiling above.

"Inaho!" The Princess dragged herself across the ground, doing everything in her effort to grab the pistol just a few feet away. Upon retrieving it, she took notice of her dying friend before her, who was nearly unrecognizable from the fresh coat of red adorning his features.

She could hear the Count slowly encroaching upon her position. He was limping, and the pistol in his hand was shaking violently.

"_This is my chance to end it all. Saazbaum will die, and this war will finally be over. I can bring peace between our forces, so, I must pull this trigger!" _

Asseylum drew the weapon on him, but, as soon as he was in her sights, she froze up. It felt as if some unseen force was preventing her from pulling that trigger. It was only when Saazbaum had made his way over to the Princess that her eyes began to water.

"_I'm sorry, Inaho! I couldn't protect you…I can't shoot him, I just can't!" _

"Farewell, Princess Asseylum." He voiced his parting words, moments away from pulling the trigger.

"_I'm sorry! Inaho...Slaine!" _

It happened too fast for Asseylum, despite her eyes observing the whole event. Blood splattered across her porcelain cheeks, and the Count's head now replaced with flying skull fragments and brain matter flooding the area around his now lifeless corpse.

"_Who…?" _

She slowly turned her shaking form to her left, seeing a familiar face pointing a gun at the deceased Count beside them.

"Slaine…?" The Terran lowered his weapon, noticeably shaken by the whole event. He was panting.

"Are you alright, your Highness?"

"I'll be fine, but...Inaho!" The Princess held her wound to avoid losing any more blood while pulling herself beside Inaho.

"Inaho?" Slaine eyed the boy now being tended by her Highness, and then the orange Kataphrakt. "Orange…"

"Huh?" Asseylum looked towards the gun now being aimed at Inaho's head.

"This bastard saved you?" Slaine asked, his finger on the trigger with eyes narrowed at the man who shot him down a few days prior.

"Yes, so lower your weapon, Slaine." The Terran took a few steps back, taken off guard by her tone. It was deep, forceful, commanding - nothing like the personality he'd come to know her by.

"But he was using you for the power of Aldnoah! How could you possibly-"

"I don't care, he protected me, Slaine. I owe him a lot more than you would think."

"Your Highness-"

"Move him into the Tharsis, I'll activate its Aldnoah drive and you can get us out of here."

"But-!"

"It's still operational, yes?" Asseylum looked up at him awaiting a reply, her eyes watery.

"Of course, your Highness, but I'm very much against him coming along with us!"

"Slaine, I saved you once. I took you in when everyone else, including my own grandfather, was against it! Return the favor...just this once at least. That person is not your enemy! I don't care if he shot you down; he did what he had to do as a soldier. I know that you would have done the same thing in his shoes."

Slaine's eyes widened, taken aback by her defense of the boy.

"I know that you would have done the same," she repeated, eyes full of fire, "because both of you have already sacrificed so much for my sake."

"I-"

"No," She stopped him, "I won't hear any further protests. I, Asseylum Vers Allusia, command you to save both me and that Terran soldier. If you don't heed my command, I will refuse to move from this spot."

"Your Highness…"

"Don't make me do this, Slaine. I don't want to stay here...I want to go home. Please…just follow my command and take him with us!" Slaine stood there a moment, watching his Highness cry. He couldn't stand to see her like this, no matter how much he might have loathed the bleeding boy in front of him.

He wanted to tend to Asseylum's wound, hold her in his arms, and tell her how much he missed her. He had to abide, however, for there was no way she would come along if he didn't, and he sure as hell wasn't going to force her along. She would despise him until the end of time.

He bowed his head slightly, out of habit, and even managed a small smile for her. "Where should I take us, Your Highness?"

She rubbed the tears from her eyes before staring into his. Her fists tightened, and she answered him with strange fierceness to overcome the trepidation in her heart.

"Vers."

**Aldnoah Zero: Convergence **

**Episode 12**

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><p><strong>AN: **Hey, everyone! After the ending of Episode 12, which I thought was a masterful sequence of unexpected shock value, I just knew I had to make an alternate ending of sorts, if only to cure myself from a neverending barrage of feels. This soon turned into a full-fledged tale, and I look forward to sharing it with all of you. I am working on a few other projects alongside this, but I will update in due time.

Until then, leave me some feedback if possible and thank you for reading the first chapter of Aldnoah Zero: Convergence!

Have a great day, or night, depending on where you reside in the world.

-Prima


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